| Show copper price arl ce regulates wages at gold camp SPECIAL correspondence for the first time in the history of mining milling wages in a gold mining camp are regulated by the price of electrolytic copper this system was adopted in the oatman district of arizona on june ast 1st as a result 10 cents a day is lopped off the wages of the oatman miners automatically however copper will have to drop to 22 cents a pound before the former level of wages paid up to june 1st ast is again reached gg tak 10 E R ia u dam mines company in foreground of tom reed gold view of oatman arizona plant town of oatman in sack background ground fu of an agreement entered into between the nen men employed in the mines and the operators after considerable friendly discussion the new scale allows the men an advance of 50 cents a day over the wages previously paid as long as the price of copper remains at 27 cents or over when the price drops 1 cent per pound under the new scale common unskilled labor known as the bull gang will receive hand miners muckers duckers muc kers helpers 4 a day both in mine and mill etc will vill receive miners tim bermen per day machine solution men compressor men pump men will receive 5 per day refinery nery men etc work and machine miners and tim bermen A ing in shafts blacksmiths timber framers machinists electricians hoisting engineers etc will receive per day some time ago the men presented a petition to the operators asking for an ad vance in wages to cover the increased cost of living in order to meet this situation the operators formulated a sliding wage scale using the quotations on oil copper as the basis while this may see a novel method of fixing wages in a gold mining camp it is argued by the operators that the selling price of copper forms a reliable index to the average cost of food stuffs clothing and other necessities when copper is high other commodities also command high prices and vice versa there is talk of the government overn ment fixing the selling price of copper at 16 cents or thereabouts but if any such radical reduction occurs with other prices staying up no doubt a readjustment will be made by the oatman operators who realize that a living wage must be paid at all times it is also a well recognized fact that there is a close relation between the wages paid in the arizona copper camps and those prevailing in other mining camps as the men will leave for the better paid districts if conditions are not satisfactory where they happen to be employed relations always pleasant the relations existing between the miners and the operators in the oatman catman dis ment tending to the future progress and w welfare elfare of the oatman district tom reed mill satish satisfactory actori the new tom reed mill is working just I 1 tile the same as if it had been accustomed to the job for months so far not a single adjustment has had to be made requiring a shut down or loss of time while the full capacity of tons per lay day has not yet been attempted the granulating mill has handled all the work that has been given it without even hesitating in order to supply tons of ore per day which is more than twice the output of the tom reed in the past has been started on the foot level of the aztec here a over feet long is being opened averaging more than eight feet wide and including some of the finest ore ever mined in the oatman district this alone contains tons of ore as it has been proven to extend up to within 4 0 A 4 new ton wiling milling plant of united eastern mining company at oatman arizona brict have always been of the most pleasant and cordial character with very few exceptions oatman has a very intelligent and fair minded class of miners nearly all of whom are financially interested in properties here and are consequently reluctant to take steps calculated to cause unnecessary trouble in the district they realize as good business men that tile the gold mining companies have not bone bene fitted by the advance in the price of copper and of other commodities but rather the reverse hence it is not their r desire to injure cripple or embarrass em barass tile the operating companies but as stated in their petition the cost of living has advanced so sharply that they must have more wages to maintain their efficiency the amicable adjustment of relations between employer and employed at this critical time in such a friendly and harmonious manner is regarded as a distinct achieve feet of the surface while not completely sampled it is carefully estimated that this will average 15 per ton in gold the aztec vein is being rapidly opened up by drifting both ways on the foot level as well and the pay shoot is wider and carries higher values than on the foot level within thirty days the tramway will be installed and the work of sinking feet deeper to the foot level will be commenced developments at united eastern significant developments are going forward at the foot level of the united eastern the ore body on this level which is really feet below the collar of tile the new shaft was only opened up by drifting for a length of feet until recently all the work being confined to tile the upper levels engineers have always maintained that the united eastern ore body would increase in width wi and length with depth d down own to a certain point this theory is being provo 11 as the drifts are advanced both to jo tile the east and west on the foot level already alneil each drift has been run out for more than feet and the face of each is still in ill gool milling ore in fact the lower level compares favorably with tile the upper ones ines in values this gives a total length of about feet on this level with the end not yet in sight adding to assets of company each days work is adding materially to the assets of the company and justify justifying in the belief that the best part of the united united easterne Ea sterns ore reserves are yet to be explored great interest naturally attaches to the results of developing the vein feet below tile the bottom of the present workings which will be accomplished as soon as sinking to that depth can be achieved the united eastern is still carrying on development on tile the big jim property and is opening up commercial ore on the foot level as well as on the foot level new ore in gold road new ore is being opened up on the workings of the gold road making it certain that this old property will again enter the producing ranks though it is probable that no announcement of the date of reopening the mill will be made for some tinie time experiments peri ments have been conducted at the needles smelter of the united states smelting smelling Sm elting refining mining company for the purpose of determining whether gold road ore can be successfully and economically treated by the oil flotation process but it is the general belief that ayam dation is the only practicable method for treating treatie 9 gold old ores from the oatman nan district other properties at the nellie it has been decided to install a complete new pumping plant as water conditions have arisen entirely different from what had been anticipated tile the main working shaft of the mohawk central is now down feet and excellent consider considering ilig the rp ogress is being made hard character of the andesite now bellg being penetrated excellent progress is reported from the sunnyside Sunny side where eliere the drift is being advance and west all in quartz ed towards the north though not no C carrying arry 1 ng encouraging values milling ore the compressor with the aid of which of the big the shaft at the blue bird claims jim consolidated will he be sunk from the to the foot level is now being installed and sinking should start luring during tile the coming colling week |
